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(No Model.) 3 Shets-Sheet 1.

R. W. FURNAS. STREET CLEANER:

No. 564,013; Patented July 1896.

wiiwcaaeo (No Model.) 3 SheetsF-Sheet 2.

- R. W. FURNAS.

' STREET CLEANER.

No. 564,013. Patented July 14, 1896.

3513 attomzuq (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

R.-w. PU RNAS.

STREET CLEANER.

No. 564,018. Patented Jul 14, 1896.

UNITED STATES,

PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT WV. FURNAS, OF INDIANAPOLIQINDIANA.

STREET-CLEAN ER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 564,013, dated July14,1896.

Application filed November 8, 1894. Serial No- 528,240=. (N model.)

- T 0 all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ROBERT WV. FURNAS, of

Indianapolis, county of Marion, and State of Indiana, have inventedcertain new and'useful Improvements in Pneumatic Street-OleaningMachines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear,and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, in which like letters refer to like parts.

My invention relates to improvements in pneumatic street-cleaningmachines of the same general character as those shown in my formerpatents, Nos. 484,191, 484,192, 514,67 6, 514,677, and 514,678.

After considerable further experimenting and testing of various formsand constructions of the parts of the machines, I have found that hereinshown and described to be the best to accomplish the desired work. Thismachine contains someimprovements in the gathering-hood and the generalfeatures and arrangement of parts of the machine whereby the mode ofoperation and results are quite different from what is shown in mypriorpatents. These features will appear from the accompanying drawingsand the following description.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of my machine. Fig. 2 is a rear elevationof the same. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the rear portion of the machinefor the purpose especially of showing the dust-chamber. Fig. 4 is alongitudinal section of the hood and the pipes leading from it and intoit. Fig. 5 is a central crosssection of the same, the rear part of thetruck being broken away. Fig. 6 is a cross section of the hood on theline A A, Fig. 4. Fig. 7 is a perspective of the deflecting-block in thehood. Fig. 8 is a perspective of the rear apron of the inner hood. Fig.9 is a vertical sectional view of the dust-chamber and attachments. Fig.10 is aside elevation of my sweeper opposite to that of Fig. 1. Fig. 11is an enlarged cross-section of the hood and a portion of the truck withthe substitution of the plate for the weight in the inner hood.

In detail I provide a suitable carriage about the size of atwo-horsewagon, having a suitable frame 1, as seen in Fig. 1. Upon this wagon Iplace an engine and boiler 2. The

wagon is preferably drawn by a team, but if desired could be propelledby the engine. The chief purposes of the engine are to drive theexhaust-fan 3 and to inject a spray of steam into the dust-collectingchamber 4, which is integral with or directly above the dirt-box 5wherein the dust settles after it has been weighted by moisture from thesteam. The dust-chamber and dirt-box arepreferably located in the rearportion of the machine, behind which the gathering-hood 6 is carried bya skeleton truck. This truck is drawn bychains 33,-and by cables 7,which pass over suitable pulleys to a drum 8 beside the drivers seat,the driver is enabled to elevate or lower the gathering-hood whendesired.

The gathering-hood is preferably a double one, there being an inner hood9, as seen in Fig. 6, forming an inner main passage-way,

and an outer hood enveloping such inner hood excepting at its ends. Thetop of this outer hood may be made of canvas or other flexible material,but the top of the inner hood is preferably made of rigid sectionsflexibly connected, as shown in my former patents above referred to.

10 is an apron depending from the front portion of the top of the outerhood, 31 is an apron depending from the front portion of the top of theinner hood, 12 is an apron depending from the rear portion of the top ofthe inner hood, and 32 is an apron depending from the rear portion ofthe top of the outer hood. These aprons are preferably weighted and mademore durable by metallic plates 11, as shown in Figs. 4, 5, G, and 11,or by rubber straps to reinforce them. The rear apron 12 of the innerhood is made, as shown in Fig. 8, of small boards or similar piecesindependently hinged at their upper ends by canvas, as shown, or othermeans to the top of such hood, so that they cannot be pushed forwardbeyond a vertical position but may be moved backward independently whenone of them meets an obstruction. This apron 12 is made of such widthrelative to the other parts of the hood that it does not touch thesurface of the street, but leaves a space of, say, one inch under itextending from one end to the other of the hood. From the central partof the inner hood a pipe 13 extends upward and enters the dust-chamber 1near its upper end. A portion of this pipe or tube is made extensiblelike an accordion to permit the vertical and lateral movement of itslower end. It enters the dust-chamber preferably tangentially, as shownin Figs. 2 and A steampipe 14 enters the upper end of the dustchambernear the entrance of the dust-pipe 13 to cause the moisture in the steamto contact with and weight the particles of dust entering the chamber. Ido not find it desirable to feed the steam to the dust-chamber directly,as there would be too much of it and it would make a noise. Therefore Iprovide a steam-drum 15 near the boiler, which is fed by the pipe 16,and from this a portion of the steam is conducted by the pipe 38 intothe smoke-stack l 7 just above the boiler, while the other portion ofthe steam is conveyed through a small tube 18 to the large tube lat thatenters the chamber 4:. Thus I secure a second expansion of the steam byenlarging the pipe 18 before its entrance to the chamber at. Ipreferably extend the end of the pipe 14:, reduced in size, into thechamber 4 a slight distance and close its end and perforate the tube onthe side nearest the entrance of the dustladen air through the pipe 13.By adding suitable valves to the steam-pipes 16 and 18 I can control theamount of steam entering the dust-chamber.

From my experience in testing and operating pneumatic street-cleaningmachines the steam injection or spray is the most successful means ofseparating the dust from the air; but one such treatment of thedust-laden air will not suffice to effect complete separation, hence itis necessary, I find, to conduct the ail-several times through thechamber 4. By the tangential entrance of the tube 13 into thedust-chamber 4 the motion of the air is made more uniform therein thanif it entered otherwise, so as to cause a greater amount of the heavyparticles to settle to the bottom of the dirt-box 5. The dust-laden airpasses down spirally to a suitable outlet to the fan. This outlet I makepreferably as shown in Fig. 0. I provide an air passage-way or pipe 1.9,which leads from'near the bottom of the dust-chamber up centrallythrough it, out of the top, and down the sides of such chamber, and atits lower end enters the fan. Near the lower end of thispassage-wayIprovide a door 20, for the purpose of cleaning-it whendesired.

hood is to offer to the front and the rear of the inner hood thepartially dust-laden air, so that all returned air will be used over andover again, whereby it will be constantly subjected to the action of thesteam and will repeatedly pass through the dust-chamber.

This partially dust-laden air is returned to the outer hood withpractically no force or pressure, for the moment the air in the outerhood is under pressure it will leak from under the outer hood, as thelatters contact with the street surface cannot be air-tight.

In order to prevent the returned air from being under pressure in thehood and to put both hoods under suction, whereby outside air willalways be drawn under the aprons of the hood and the escape ofdust-laden air from the hood be entirely prevented, I lead off a portionof the dust-laden air to a furnace through a pipe 22. In addition tothis object, the blast through the pipe 22 can be used to feed aboiler-furnace. lVith this construction in actual operation no dustwhatsoever can escape from the hood, and there is no other place for itto escape from the machine, as the dust which enters the furnace isconsinned.

In the operation of the machine this dustladen air which is returnedthrough the pipe 21 is permeated with steam, whereby the moistening ofthe particles of dust in the air continues from the time the dust-laden.air leaves the chamber 4 until it gets back, so that on the return tothe dust-chamber the dust is more liable to fall into the box 5 than itwas in its first passage through the chamber. The return current comingthrough the pipe 21 will be drawn under the aprons of the inner hood andin. a direction parallel with the movement of the machine, but as soonas it enters the inner hood it will be drawn so as to sweep laterallyacross the path of the machine to the mouth of the pipe 13. By

this construction I secure a most efficient action of the current of airin moving the dust Off the surface of the street, namely, sweeping itparallel with the movement of the machine and sweeping it across thepath of the machines movement. After considerable experiment I havefound this to be by far the most efficient and powerful means of takingup all the dust or dirt on the surface of the street. 1

The hood is so constructed that the returned air surrounds the innerhood and enters the central chamber or hood by leaking under the frontapron and by passing under the rear apron 12. 33y reference to the hoodin Fig. 1 it will be observed that a section of the end of the innerhood is cut out at 23 and that on the end of the hood a friction-wheel24. is mounted. This construction is to enable the hood to approachclose to the curbstone, the friction-wheel 24 preventing direct contactand keeping the hood, say, one inch away from the curbstone. Vith theopening it will be readily seen that the machine will remove allparticles of dust and dirt that are in the gutter or near the curbstone,so that, for example, in cleaning asphalt streets, as they are usuallylaid, the machine will not leave any dust near the curbstones.

In order to assist in elevating the heavier particles of dust, such assmall lumps like marbles, and starting them up through the pipe 13, Iprovide a deflecting-block 25 or other form of deflector, so as to givethe current of air and the dirt an upward turn as it approaches themouth of the pipe. This deflecting-block is provided with deflectingsides to accommodate the currents coming from various directions. It maybe made, however, round instead of rectangular, or a deflecting-plate 39might be secured to the top of the inner hood, still I prefer to use aloose block made in the shape shown in Fig. 7, secured to the hood-frameby a chain 35, so that the block will drag and accommodate itself to theunevenness of the surface, always resting flatly on the surface.

In order to loosen the dirt I provide a set of scratchers 2G, movablymounted in arms 27, secured to the framework of the wagon between thewheels and capable of being elevated by a cable running to thehand-lever 32. The scratchers not only loosen the dirt but they catchthe paper and sticks of wood. I might add that the dirt-box 5 isprovided with a door 28 for the removal of the dirt. It is desirable,however, to make the connection between the dirt-box 5 and dust-chamberat air-tight. To increase the speed of my fan 3, I mount a pulley 31 ona counter-shaft near the front of the wagon, and have a belt runningfrom the engine to it and another from it to the pulley 29, which drivesthe fan. For the purpose of regulating whenever desired the proportionof air returned by the fan which enters the furnace and the hood,respectively, I provide a valve 30 in the returnpipe from the fan, whichcan be set in any position.

That I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. The combination in a pneumatic streetcleaning machine, of agathering-hood, a dustcollecting chamber, a pipe leading from the hoodto the upper end of the dust-collecting chamber, an engine and boiler, apipe leading from the engine to the upper end of the clustcollectingchamber for introducing steam therein, an exhaust-fan and means fordriving it, an air-passage leading from near the lower end of thedust-collecting chamber up through it centrally out of its top to theexhaust-fan, and a pipe leading from the exhaust-fan to the hood,substantially as shown and described.

2. In a pneumatic street-cleaning machine, a dust-collecting chamber, anengine, a drum to which steam is conducted from the engine, and pipesleading from the drum to the dust collecting chamber for introducingsteam into the latter, all combined substantially as shown anddescribed.

3. In apneumatic street-cleaning machine, a dust-collecting chamber, asteam engine and boiler, a steam-drum, a pipe leading from the drum tothe dust-collecting chamber for introducing steam therein, and anotherpipe leading from the drum to the smoke-stack of the boiler, allcombined substantially as shown and described.

4. In a pneumatic street-cleaning machine, a long, narrow gathering hoodextended transversely with the line of movement of the machine andprovided with a top close to and substantially parallel with the surfaceof the street and having a front apron adapted to contact with thestreet surface and a rear apron which extends almost but not entirely tothe street surface, and means of exhausting the air from such hood,substantially as shown and described.

5. In a pneumatic street-cleaning machine, a long narrow gathering-hoodextended transversely with the line of movement of the machine andprovided with a top close to and parallel with the surface of the streetand having a front apron adapted to contact with the street surface anda rear apron extending almost but not entirely to the surface of thestreet and being formed in sections hinged at the top so they can swingbackward but not forward, and means of exhausting the air from the hood,substantially as shown and described.

6. In a pneumatic street-cleaning machine, a gathering-hood consistingof two hoods, one inclosed within the other, the rear apron, of theinner hood extending almost but not entirely to the surface of thestreet, a (In -collecting chamber, an exhaust-fan and connections forexhausting air from the inner hood, introducing it into thedust-collecting chamber and returning it to the outer hood.

7. In a pneumatic street-cleaning machine, a gathering-hood consistingof two hoods, one inclosed within the other, the rear apron of the innerhood extending almost but not entirely to the surface of the street, adust-collecting chamber, a furnace, and connections for exhausting theair from the inner hood, passing it through the dust-collecting cham-IIO ber and conducting a portion therefrom to the furnace and a portionback to the outer hood.

8. In a pneumatic street-cleaning machine, a double gathering-hood, onebeing within the other, the rear apron of the inner hood extendingalmost to the street surface and being formed of sections and so hingedat the top as to swing backward but not forward, a dust-collectingchamber, a pipe leading from the inner hood to the dust-collectingchamber," and an exhaust-fan and connections for exhausting the air fromthe inner hood, introducing it into the dust-collecting chamber andreturning it to the outer hood.

'9. In a pneumatic street-cleaning machine, a gathering-hood adapted tocontact with the surface of the street, a dust-chamber, a pipe leadingfrom the hood to the dust-chamber,

I11 Witness whereof Ihave hereunto set 111 y a pyramidaldeflecting-block fastened by a hand this 25th day of October, 1894.cable so as to drag on the street surface Within the hood immediatelybeneath the opening therefrom into the suction-pipe, and means ofconveying the air from the hood to the dust-chamber.

ROBERT \V. FURNAS. \Vitnesses:

V. 11. LooKWooD, LELA MONROE.

